New arcade bar near downtown Dayton to have grand opening this weekend

Drinking tasty beverages while enjoying video and board games is no longer relegated to your dining room or your mom's basement. Dayton's fully on the arcade bar scene, and we've got where you need to go. (Video by Tabatha Wharton)

— The first of two new bar arcades set for greater downtown Dayton is ready to open, its co-owner said.

DK Effect will host a grand opening party this Saturday, June 10. According to their Facebook page, the area’s newest arcade bar opens at 4 p.m. and closes at midnight.

The grand opening follows a successful soft opening that was held on Saturday, June 3. DK Effect remained open through the week.

“It has taken a while, but we are finally there,” Clark said. “This is really our step one of a broader redevelopment plan for East Third Street.”

Directed by Steven Spielberg and based on Peter Benchley's 1974 novel of the same name, “Jaws” tells the story of a giant great white shark in love with killing people in the waters near a New England beach town.

No TV’s. No jukebox. Just 115 Bourbons and over 300 whiskies total to choose from while you listen to music from the 1930’s. The home of the former Kette & Sons Rye Whiskey Distillery, Century Bar also regularly holds blind tastings.

The continuing recognition from Bourbon Review is not the only national acclaim that has been heaped upon the Century. In February 2015, Men’s Journal magazine’s website declared The Century one of the “10 Best Bourbon Bars in America,” describing it as “a small bar with a huge bourbon list, The Century is as devoted to the whiskey as any other place in America.”

“It’s been a lot of work to get to this point,” Mark Jeffers, the tavern’s co-owner, said in a statement. “This place began with our non-profit arts group throwing some shows in an abandoned building. It was a hobby that has grown into something so much more. This next phase, as a fully licensed business, will allow us to do more of the events we love without all the constraints of temporary liquor licensing and insurance hassles. The vibe won’t change. There will just be more of it.”

Yellow Cab recently made several improvements, including a new bar, sinks and coolers, and full men’s and women’s restrooms.

The licenses allow the venue to provide “sale of intoxicating liquor on Sunday between the hours 10:00 a.m. or 11:00 a.m. and midnight” and have “spirituous liquor for on premises consumption only, beer, wine and mixed beverages for on premises, or off premises in original sealed containers, until 2:30 a.m., according to the Ohio Department of Commerce’s website.

The Dayton Circus began hosting events at “The Old Yellow Cab Building” six years ago.

Tons of concerts, art shows, poetry slams, food truck rallies, artisan markets and more events have been held there since.

Local vendors set up shop with handmade wares to give and get for the holidays at the Old Yellow Cab Tavern in Dayton. (TOM GILLIAM)

He anticipates that the Prohibition-era speakeasy-themed cocktail bar will open to the public in late fall.

Saturday, Dec. 5 marked the 82nd anniversary of the end of Prohibition. Accordingly, The Century Bar celebrated in style, with a festive Prohibition-themed cocktail menu. Plus, members of its Century Club and those who saw the password on its Facebook page, were granted a special, one-night glimpse of its upcoming speakeasy next door. (ANDREW SMITH/STAFF)

When completed, Kette's will operate in a 2,000-square-foot space behind the Century, 10 S. Jefferson St. It will be about 600 square feet larger than that Century.